My Love
by uhnonniemiss
Summary: Phan oneshot. Lia, Dan and Phil's daughter, is a little confused about her Daddy's name. No warnings, no swearing, just good old fluff xxx Reviews are the food of love, so please review on, give me excess of it :)


**A note for Americans: Ladybird= Ladybug**

"Daddy!" The sound of school shoes echoed on the kitchen floor as Lia ran through the room, jumping into the yellow plastic chair and crossing her feet underneath her. She blew her fringe from her eyes and grinned with milky-white teeth. "Daddy, I just met a caterpillar."

"Hello, buttercup," Phil kissed her forehead. "Well, I hope you didn't try and make it a princess like last time. Caterpillars don't belong in tiaras. You want some juice?" He set a carton down on the table.

"Yes, please. And no, I know that all caterpillars don't want to be princesses because we learnt about it at school. I just fed it a bit of leaf and watched it go round the grass and then I washed my hands and played soap bubbles." Lia held up her hands, almost knocking her juice over. "Look, all clean."

"Good girl. Talking of school, did you have a good day?" He sat down in a chair opposite her, wiping stray drops of juice with his sleeve. "Caterpillar talk, I see."

Lia giggled. "Caterpillars don't talk, Daddy."

"Maybe they do. Maybe they have lots of secrets to tell us."

"I think they're in league with the snails," Lia nodded wisely. "Yes, we learnt about different things in the garden like caterpillars and butterflies and spiders- I don't really like spiders though," she whispered, nervous. "And then I drew a picture of a ladybird because they are red and shiny and not as popular as butterflies."

Phil snorted. "Oh, your Papa's going to be very happy when he hears that. Going against the mainstream from age five," he chuckled to himself

Lia suddenly looked very anxious. "Daddy, Papa isn't staying very late tonight at the radio, is he?" They still did the show together, but Dan was the one who mainly dealt with the business side of things, since only one of them had anything close to a law degree and someone had to be there for Lia after school. Her favourite thing was having her parents say goodnight to her every Saturday over the radio when she slept at Louise's, so asking when they'd be home was pretty much a first.

"No, sweetie, he'll be back at teatime, I think. Why, is there something wrong?" Phil looked at her worriedly, but Lia relaxed and shook her head, getting hair in her eyes again.

"No, I just need both of you to help with my homework." She hopped up, knocking the empty juice carton onto its side. "If you will excuse me, I have some very very important business to attend to." She darted round the table, hugging Phil quickly, before running out of the room again. Phil leant his face on his hand, smiling. "I love you, buttercup," he said quietly.

"I'm back," Dan called, kicking off his shoes and padding barefoot into the kitchen. "I'm back and I can smell spaghetti." He crossed over the lino and wrapped his hands around Phil's waist. "Hello, my love."

Phil smiled, turning away from the saucepan to kiss him. "Lia's at the table, we can't get too steamy," he whispered, a faint blush turning his cheeks pink. Dan turned round to see Lia surrounded by crayons, deep in concentration. "Hey, little monster!" The little girl looked up, a grin breaking out over her face as Dan picked her up and wrapped her in a bear hug. "Papa! Look, Papa, I drew you and Daddy and me and some ladybirds!" She pointed down to the picture, the happy family staring out with rough crayon smiles.

Dan sat down, shifting Lia so she could sit in his lap. "Wow, that's really good! You're a much better artist than your Daddy already." He ignored Phil's protests, smiling. "Is this your homework?"

Lia nodded. "This week we're doing garden animals in the mornings and "People Who Help Us" in the afternoons. We have to draw us with the people who help us most and then write two sentences about them on the back."

"Well, I'm sure Miss Campbell will like this very much. Do you need me and Daddy to help you with the sentences?"

"No, I just need to know something. Thank you, Daddy," she smiled as Phil laid a plate of spaghetti down on the table. He sat beside Dan and took his hand. "Yeah, buttercup, what is it?"

Lia picked her spoon up purposefully. "For school we have to know the whole names of the people who help us."

Dan looked confused. "Well, you know our surname. Lester-Howell. You can spell it and everything."

"Yes, I _knooooow _that, Papa," Lia rolled her eyes. "But I don't know your _first _name."

"Ah, I see," Dan's expression cleared. "It's Daniel, but everyone calls me Dan. Do you need to know Daddy's, as well?"

She shook her head. "You say Daddy's name all the time, silly."

"Um," Lia's parents looked at each other, and Dan raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I do, sweetheart."

Lia stared up at him innocently. "But you just said it, Papa."

Phil narrowed his eyes. "Buttercup, what do you think Daddy's name is?" He leaned forward, smiling gently.

"You're so silly, Daddy. It's 'My Love'. I might be five but I know some things." Lia swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti.

Phil blinked a couple of times, then laughed, covering his mouth. "You think- aw, buttercup!" He reached out and took her hand. "That's not my real name."

Lia's eyes widened. "What?"

"That's just a nickname, precious," Dan smiled, biting his lip. "Like Daddy calls you buttercup, I call him 'My Love'. Daddy's proper name is Phil."

"Oh," Lia looked down, but nodded to herself. "I like that name, too."

"Good." It was taking all of Phil's self control to stop himself from laughing. "I'm glad. Are you finished? Okay, if you finish your homework, we can watch some TV later, if you want."

"Okay!" Lia said brightly, jumping out of the chair and grabbing her crayons. Dan pulled her closer, wiping a smudge of tomato sauce off her nose. "We love you, little noodle."

"I'm not a noodle, you're both noodles," Lia complained, but kissed both her fathers on the nose. "But I love you both anyway. Even though you are the kings of noodle land." She stuck her tongue out and ran into the lounge.

Phil smiled, leaning into Dan's shoulder. "We have the best daughter in the world. You know that ladybirds are now one of her favourite insects because they're not as popular as butterflies?"

Dan stared wistfully outwards, a hand over his heart. "Ah, a noble hipster child. We have raised her well."

"Seriously, though. We're so lucky. I must have been Jesus in a past life." He twisted round and kissed Dan on the lips, chaste and sweet. The twin silver bands on their third fingers caught the light, and Phil smiled. "I love you, Dan."

"I love you too, my love," he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against Phil's. "Yeah, that's definitely your new name. We should look into getting it legally changed."

"You're such an idiot," Phil laughed, wrinkling his nose.

Dan squeezed his hand. "Yeah, but I'm your idiot. You married me. You can never escape."

"Yeah." Maybe one day, Phil would figure out how he got the best family in the world. "You are my love. And I'm yours. Forever."

Maybe one day he'd figure it out. But for the time being, this was more than enough.

**Sorry I never know how to end fics.**

**Thank you for reading xxx For my other fics, and some background information on this one, please go to my tumblr (also called uhnonniemiss)**

**Please review to receive complimentary silver gerbils. **


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